He hasn’t gotten to mine, but I believe I put ESC on mine, but I do remember thinking they don’t really need launch control.

My mother tried to teach me to drive a stick shift on a 91 ford escort. I near melted the clutch, and gave up for a few years, until I saw my 1988 Sunbird GT and I knew I had to have it. Drove it off the lot, like I had been born driving stick. I tell this to my wife, who refuses to learn; “you never know until you have to”.

Francisco is looking for a car: part 2.

After his search inside the city the previous day, Francisco drove his beloved Merciel 112 out of the capital into the main towns of the province, in his unending search for the ideal car. His first destination, Cartama.

Baltazar Quark 1.0

His first visit was to a small sized, Baltazar specialized dealership in the outskirts of the town. After being greeted by a saleswoman and explaining her what he was looking for, she took Francisco to the Quark without thinking it twice. Francisco began his inspection of the car, phone in hand to check data on it.

Styling was simple and functional, complemented by five full seats in the interior with not too many amenities. Safety was adequate, and the Quark came bundled with a rule-compliant 6 speed manual with overdrive. But it got better for Francisco when he heard the little hatchback had very good fuel economy, adequate power at 90hp, and a small 1L displacement to keep these pesky taxes down. Even if he had some concerns, again, with the brakes (similarly to the Kunai and Coda), this could be clarified later with a test drive. One that was booked before leaving the dealership, too.

Kyoki Adventurer

After a short walk to the next intersection, Francisco entered another small, Kyoki specialized dealership. After talking to the salesman, Francisco was taken to the green crossover; upon looking at it, Francisco realized it looked kind of like a skull, with the rear being very simple, something that was quite off putting to him. Nevertheless, he decided to give the green CUV an opportunity.

Interior was loaded with goodies, but had space only for four people; safety was adequate but the power steering was apparently a fixed ratio one, and the gearbox had no overdrive apparently. Talking of which, upon looking at the graph, Francisco realized it was an engine with a crippled powerband, redlining way too soon, and the fuel economy wasn’t too good either. Francisco was confident about this one: too many flaws to be viable. Out of the shortlist.

CMV C16

Why did the Francisco cross the road? To get to the next dealership, a medium sized one specialized in CMV and Ardent.

The first car he was shown there was the CMV C16, a change of pace from these hatchbacks, wagons and crossovers in the shape of a sedan. While the design wasn’t offensive it was quite bare, specially at the rear. One thing Francisco wondered about was the reason why suicide doors were used in a low end car, but he wasn’t one to judge a book by its cover, so the inspection began.

The 1.6 liter turbocharged engine had a wide powerband (a bit too wide even), delivering 143hp…Francisco’s first mental alarm went off, but he decided to give the car just a chance. Sadly the overpowered for a first time driver engine came bundled with high repair costs, not too much comfort and quite wide tyres. Shame, because the car was quite complete safety wise. Out of the shortlist.

Ardent Wren 1.3SE

The next car Francisco was taken to before leaving the dealership was the Ardent Wren. The Ardent crossover looked quite weird, with a lot of design decisions Francisco couldn’t figure out.

The interior was probably the most bare he had seen so far, with four full seats and very little amenities. Safety was once again adequate, fuel economy could be improvable, but the adequate power (90hp, just like the Baltazar), cheap repair costs and okay comfort made Francisco decide to give the car an opportunity. A test drive was booked for this one, with healthy skepticism.

After a hearty breakfast and a while of driving later, Francisco arrived at Antequera.

Deer And Hunt Bambi

As soon as Francisco arrived at the outskirts, he started looking for dealerships in the area. The first dealership he found was specialized in American cars, offering Deer and Hunts, Albatross’ and Faroxes.

The first car he checked here was the DaH Bambi. The sporty looking hatchback was similar in size to the Coda, with five full seats and probably one of the nicest equipments Francisco had seen so far. Safety was on the low side, however, and there were quite a few flaws with this car: low fuel economy for the power (90hp), quite a bit of turbo lag and high repair costs. Sadly this forced the Bambi out of the shortlist.

Albatross 150 Turbo

The Albatross was the next car to be checked. Styling wasn’t too nice but not too shabby either; the interior, however, was quite bare and had few amenities, as well as safety that was just adequate. The 130hp engine, however, if a bit powerful, returned really nice fuel economy, and was mated to a 5 speed manual. With, once again, healthy skepticism, Francisco decided to give the 150 a chance.

Farox Elos

Next in line was the elegantly styled Farox Elos. The smart looks caught Francisco’s attention, who started inspecting the car inmediately. The interior was similar to a few of the models he had seen so far, an adequate interior with good padding and a few amenities. The Farox sat 4 adults comfortably as well, confidently with advanced safety.

The 1.5 liter engine, three cylinder, would avoid high taxes as well, but it had a severe flaw: peak power was just 100rpm before cutoff. That, combined with not too low servicing costs, made Francisco rule out a package that was otherwise completely fine. Out of the shortlist.

Pastinuji RC-3X

The salesman insisted on taking a look at this one. This is not what Francisco was looking for, but he was more than happy to give it a test drive and pop some fat burnouts at the parking lot.

Doing the Mario Kart joke again would’ve been cheesy.

A quick lunch after, Francisco drove to the opposite end of the city. The biggest dealership in town would be his last visit.

Pegasus Getaway 5

Francisco wasn’t sure if “Pegasus Getaway 5” was a car or a slasher movie from the 80s, but he’d soon find out it was a car indeed. The weird, and a bit bland styled hatchback was waiting for Francisco in one of the side rooms of the dealership.

However, the package was much better than its looks. The 105hp engine displaced just 1.5 liters, which should avoid taxes adequately, and combined with a rule complying 6 speed manual, the fuel economy wasn’t bad either, even if it certainly wasn’t the best. Five full seats, adequate amenities and safety, and a high degree of reliability earned the Getaway a test drive, even if it was quite expensive to service. Of course, with some healthy skepticism.

ZAF Vertex Sense.

The next car to catch Francisco’s attention would be the diminutive ZAF. The ZAF promised something similar to the FABEL, but would it have the same flaws?

Well it did not have the same flaws, but it had severe flaws of its own. The engine had almost no runoff, and while the interior was really nice, the car had an unhealthy tendency to oversteer. Not only that, it had service costs comparable to some of the much bigger options Francisco had seen so far. Out of the shortlist.

Delta Muso Sport

What would be next? The Muso Sport, of course. After being disappointed by the ZAF, Francisco’s hopes for this one weren’t too high.

However this car had some good stuff. Good interior, if only capable of seating four adults, a really efficient 1 liter engine with good powerband that returned quite high fuel eco, even if the repairs would be relatively costly, they weren’t the most expensive either. The Muso didn’t have the tendency to oversteer the ZAF had either. Even if it had similar flaws to the FABEL in that the car was quite prone to roll due to a quite soft suspension, this one didn’t fall short of power. Into the test drive list it goes.

Gabatron G3 1.6 HPi

Next was the Gabatron. Its styling was basic and a bit bland but by no means offensive. Internals wise, the Gabatron had a good interior capable of seating five adults, adequate amenities and safety, and soft suspension that, while made it comfortable, kept body roll in check.

Repair costs were a bit high, however, but it had good fuel eco for the power (106hp). However, Francisco saw something he didn’t like when he checked the engine. The powerband had almost no runoff, with the redline being reached just 200rpm after peak power. A package that looked promising gone wrong. Out of the shortlist.

BM Rabbit

And to follow the Gabatron, the next car to be looked at was the little, cute BM Rabbit. BM’s proposal was quite similar to the FABEL, without as good of a fuel eco. Power was better, but at 75hp, fell a little short, specially when you consider other proposals like the Quark had similar eco with more power. Interior was quite similar to the rest of proposals, although, once again, sat only four adult people.

Not only that, the safety was far from the best as well and the car was quite prone to roll. Even if the interior was adequate, the Rabbit just falls a bit short. The fact that the five speed manual had no overdrive didn’t help either. Out of the shortlist.

AAAA Spectrum

AAAA. AAAAAAH! How could Francisco forget about that brand? He remembered them as soon as he spotted a hatchback sporting their badge, which was a bit…suspiciously similar to Kimura’s. Anyways, the weirdly styled hatchback seemed to offer good value with a 5 full seat interior, if a bit on the basic side, with a few goodies thrown in for good measure, as well as really nice safety. The five speed manual used 5th gear as overdrive and the 120hp engine returned okay economy, but then Francisco realized…

…not enough runoff yet again. Big-ish engine. Out of the shortlist.

FAAL Plebia X 1.0

Next in line was a crossover from French marque FAAL. Front styling was nice even if the rear looked quite derpy. However, the styling was by no means offensive and the paint they used looked really nice on the car.

The interior was a bit bare, with four seats without too much padding and not many amenities as well as not too advanced safety, just adequate. The engine was small and adequately punch…hang on a minute, is that a 5 valve per cylinder engine? That belongs in supercars and hypercars and race cars, not a small crossover. I don’t even know if my local mechanic services that kind of valvetrain. Sadly, out of the shortlist it goes.

Dragotec Sweetle Endur

Hang on a minute now. A sports car? Oh boy. The Sweetle is apparently a sports car that sips fuel like a baby and advanced safety. Insurance would crush him if he tried to get a fleet of these, however…maybe there’s something that can be done.

BREAKING NEWS: Driving school teacher arrested after attempted fraud to get sports car for himself at fleet price. More news at 10.

RCM Fox EL

From a French marque to a Canadian one. The RCM Fox was a chic looking hatchback, with comparable equipment to the rest of the offerings he had seen so far. While it had less power than the rest of its similar competitors, at 80hp, its economy figure wasn’t the best although it was on the better side of things compared to the rest of the competition. The interior included four full seats, and the safety felt, once again, adequate. Good reliability, not too pricey servicing costs. The RCM Fox looked like a well rounded package, and the five speed manual had an overdrive gear.

Althought it didn’t really have any strong points, it didn’t have any particularly weak points either. It could be worth a shot, and so Francisco added it to his shortlist.

Nohda Tansa Revo

Following the RCM, a car from Japanese marque Nohda. The small crossover seemed to have more offroad pretensions than the other crossovers seen so far, but would it make the cut? For starters the interior was quite adequate, five full seats, minor amenities, not too uncomfortable but not a premium barge either. Safety wasn’t the best Francisco had seen either, but it was nowhere near bad. One thing he didn’t like, however, was that the servicing costs were slightly on the higher side, but they weren’t too bad either.

Most importantly, they were compensated by really good fuel economy from the 1.1 liter, 83hp engine. It was a bit on the lower side of what would be adequate power, but it would do. Into the shortlist it goes.

C-D COMETTE

The COMETTE was the last car Francisco had time to check. The clearly French hatchback had some sporty pretensions from what it could be seen, but Francisco checked it just in case it was a good package.

Well it was a dissapointment for Francisco. The 100hp engine returned bad economy for the size, and that, combined with a chassis that wants to roll even more than the FABEL, as well as low reliability and the highest costs of any car Francisco had checked, ruled it out. Out of the shortlist.

Francisco returned to his house after two hours of road driving. Letting himself fall on the puf seat he had, he checked the list of possible candidates:

Hanson Herron 1.8Ti

LSV Cruiser

Shromet Radiant RC

Maestro Coda 1.4e

Pegasus Getaway 5

Ardent Wren 1.3SE

Albatross 150 Turbo

Cavallera Kunai Mk2

Delta Muso Sport

Baltazar Quark 1.0

RCM Fox EL

Nohda Tansa Revo

It’d be a really, really long day comparing these cars the following day…

(Congratulations to those whose cars appear in this shortlist, as you made it to round 2!)